The present invention relates to a manual operating panel of a copying apparatus.
Multi-function copying apparatuses have been developed these days. The copying apparatuses of today are equipped with various functional units of different functions, which makes the manual operating panel thereof complicated. Examples of the functions of the copying apparatus are a binding margin spacing function, a both-side copying (double copying) function and a variable magnification function, etc. Also, in addition to these functions (functional units), copying apparatuses of today can comprise a multi-stacked paper feeding unit which comprises a plurality of vertically stacked paper containers for different sized papers and selectively supplies a copying paper of desirable size and a sorter unit which performs a sorting function of the copies.
With respect to the multi-stacked paper feeding unit, for example, of the above-mentioned various kinds of functional units of the copying apparatus, problems of the prior art are as follows.
When one of the paper container units (paper trays or cassettes) malfunctions and jams, which is not rare in the copying apparatus, it is not desirable to stop the whole operation of the copying apparatus until the paper container is repaired from the stand point of operational rate of the apparatus and productivity of copy products since the other parts of the copying apparatus are able to be operated. When such a copying apparatus in a partially out of order state is to be used without operating the paper container in trouble, no problem arises if the operator knows that one of the paper containers malfunctions to jam so that he or she can avoid using the defective paper container and operate the remaining paper containers in a normal state instead.
However, if the operator does not know that the paper feeding unit malfunctions, he or she may select the defective paper container unit after resetting the copying apparatus to use a copy paper of desirable size, which results in jamming of the paper.
This problem can be solved by drawing out the paper cassette from the defective compartment of the unit and maintaining the compartment vacant. However, such a way to solve the problem is not only inconvenient but also apt to result in failure since somebody may set the paper cassette in the defective compartment.
In addition to the above-mentioned problem of the paper feeding unit, with regard to the multi-function copying apparatus, there is a case wherein the user of the apparatus does not require all of the functions and a simple copying function may satisfy the user's requirement so that the other functions are not utilized. In such a case, a complicated operating panel for the multi-function copying apparatus is inconvenient to use. Besides, the complicated operating panel causes misoperations of the apparatus since the panel has unnecessary parts for the functional units which are not to be used.